Coin conveyor



Dec. 29, 1970 MCCOLLOUGH ET AL 3,550,350

COIN CONVEYOR 2 Sheets Sheet 1 Filed June 5, i968 INVENTORS JOHN K.MCCOLLOUGH BY RICHARD D. WYLIE Ewan.

ATTORNEY Dec. 29, 1970 MCCOLLOUGH ET AL 3,550,350

COIN CONVEYOR Filed June- 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS JOHNK.McCOLLOUGH BY RICHARD D. WYLIE AT TORNE Y United States Patent Int.Cl. B6511 61/00 US. Cl. 53----167 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREApparatus to align misaligned coins in a package prior to completion ofthe final package to provide'a compact roll of packaged coins. Anautomatic kicker is used to push a package of loosely packaged coinsagainst a. plate to straighten the coins in the package.

In copending application Ser. No. 643,258 there is disclosed a methodand "apparatus to seal a predetermined number of coins in a heatshrinkable bag and convey the bag to a heat shrink oven to shrink thefilm down around the coins to provide a compact roll of wrapped coins.When coins have been packaged loosely in an oversize bag prior toshrinking of the bag the coins tend to lean in one direction or theother which, ifleft in this condition, would provide a parallelogramshaped package when the film is shrunk around the coins. It has alsobeen found that when the coins are initially packaged in the shrink filmthat, due to the looseness of the bag, some of the coins becomemisaligned and when the bag is heat shrunk these misaligned coins causebulges in the film presenting an appearance which is not appealing tothe eye. Further, in extreme cases it is possible for the misalignedcoins to cause a hole to form in the bag as it is shrunk down around thecoins.

Therefore it is an object of the invention to provide apparatus tostraighten and align misaligned coins in a container prior to completionof the container into a compact roll of wrapped coins.

Another object of the invention is to straighten and align misalignedcoins contained in a sealed bag of heat shrinkable film prior to thesupply of such bag to a heat shrink oven to shrink the film around thecoins to form a compact roll of wrapped coins.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be clearly apparentas the specification proceeds to describe the invention with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roll of coins contained in a sealedheat shrinkable film bag prior to heatingshowing the coins leaning inone direction;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the conveyor system suppling rolls ofcoins to a shrink oven;

FIG. 3 is a top view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section view of the coin kicker taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;and

FIG. 5 is a view taken on line 55 of FIG. 2.

Looking now to the drawings and especially to FIG. 1, the referencenumeral represents a roll of coins sealed in a heat shrinkable film bag.It should be notedthat in this type of bag the coins tend to lean oneway or the other and if the bag is shrunk while the coins are in thisposition the roll of wrapped coins will remain in this position with thecoins inclined to the vertical. Further, some of the coins 12 are notproperly aligned with other coins 14 and it is obvious that if the bagis heat shrunk down around the coins that bulges will be formed in thebag by the coins 12.

Looking now to FIG. 2 the basic system is shown in that sealed bags ofcoins 10 are carried on a conveyor Patented Dec. 29, 1970 ice 16 to ashrink oven 18 wherein the heat shrinkable film is shrunk around thecoins. From the shrink oven 18 the compact rolls of coins are deliveredto a bagger or boxer for shipment to the consumer.

The conveyor 16 driven by any suitable means consists of a straightsection 20 and an upwardly inclined section 22 into the shrink oven 18.Operably associated with the conveyor are a plurality of. rolls 24spaced from one another by a chain link 26 which also rotatably supportsthe rolls 24. The space between adjacent rolls 24 accommodates the coinrolls 10.

Mounted to the straight section 20 of the conveyor 16 by a suitablesupport member 30 is a micro-switch 28. Support member 30 through arm 32rotatably supports actuator 34 and sprocket 36 both of which areconnected to a suitable shaft 38. The sprocket 36 engages the chain link26 and holds it in the down position as the chain link changes directionfrom the straight portion 20 upward toward the shrink oven 18 along theupward conveyor portion 22.

The actuator 34 has a plurality of contact members 40 thereon, which inthe preferred form of the invention are screws, which engage the switcharm 42 of the microswitch 28 to make the micro-switch each time theswitch ar-m engages one of the contact members 40 when the actuator 34is rotated by the rotation of the sprocket 36 caused by the movement ofthe chain link 26 when moved by the drive means (not shown). The arcdistance between adjacent contact members is the distance equivalent tothe distance between the axial centerlines of adjacent rolls 24 so thatevery time the chain link moves a distance equivalent to the distancebetween the axial centerlines of adjacent rolls 24 the switch arm 42 ofthe micro-switch 28 will be engaged by one of the contacts 40 and themicro-switch will be made for reasons hereinafter explained.

As discussed previously, adjacent rolls 24 are rotatably supported bythe chain link 26 and spaced from one another a pre-determined distanceto provide an area to support and rotate the coin rolls 10 as theyproceed through the shrink oven 18. On the upward portion of theconveyor 16 the rolls 24 contact plate type members 44 and are rotatedthereby in the direction indicated by the arrows. In turn, rotation ofthe rolls 24 cause the coin rolls 10 to rotate in the directionindicated by the arrows to provide for even shrinkage of the film aroundthe coins and to keep the coins in correct alignment dur-.

ing shrinkage of the film.

Mounted to the upper portion of the conveyor on one side thereofadjacent the entrance to the oven 18 is a deflector plate with astraight portion 46 and flared out portion 48. The flared out portion 48guides those coin rolls 10 back onto the conveyor in proper positionthat have been placed in the space between the rolls with one endoverhanging the rolls as shown in FIG. 3. Mounted by a suitable supportmember 49 on the other side of the upper portion 22 of the conveyoropposite to the straight deflector portion is a solenoid actuated kicker50. The solenoid actuated kicker consists basically of a rotary solenoid52 and a kicker arm 54 which, when rotated toward the conveyor, hits theend of the coin package roll 10 and forces it over against the deflectorplate portion 46. The impact of the kicker arm 54 aligns the coins 12and 14 in the coin roll 10 and the combination of the kicker arm and thedeflector plate portion 46 places the coins in the upright verticalposition. Preferably, the kicker 50 is located adjacent the entrance tothe shrink oven so that the coins do not have an opportunity to getmisaligned again. Note particularly FIG. 4 where actuated position ofthe kicker arm 54 is shown in solid lines and the deactivated positionis shown in phantom.

3 OPERATION The sealed rolls of coins 10 are placed on the straightconveyor portion 20 in the space between adjacent rolls 24 by anysuitable means (not shown). The rolls of coins travel up the inclinedconveyor portion until they are kicked by the kicker arm 52 and forcedagainst the deflector 46. The rolls of coins 10 then proceed into theoven 18 wherein the shrink film is shrunk down around the coins. Thenthe completed coin roll is supplied to a boxing or bagging machine whichpackages a pre-determined number of rolls for shipment to the consumer.

The diameter of the actuator and the number of contacts are so selectedthat the switch arm 42 will actuate the micro-switch 28 every time thecenter of the space between adjacent rolls passes the kicker arm 54. Themicroswitch, each time it is actuated or made, energizes the rotarysolenoid 52 to rotate the kicker arm 54 toward the conveyor to kick thecoin roll 10 toward the deflector plate portion 46. The kicker arm 54will be actuated every time whether there is a roll of coins 10 in thespace or not to insure that all coin rolls 10 are aligned properlybefore entrance into the shrink oven 18.

It can be seen that the herein disclosed apparatus automatically alignsthe coins in a sealed shrink film bag so that upon shrinkage of the filmin the shrink oven thereon will provide a compact roll of wrapped coinswhich is smooth and appealing to the eye.

Although we have described in detail the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it is contemplated that many changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of our invention and we desire to belimited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. Coin handling apparatus comprising: a shrink oven, conveying means toconvey shrink film wrapped rolls of coins to said oven, said conveyorhaving a plurality of 4 rollers with adjacent rollers being spacedfrom-one another to accommodate a roll of coins therebetween, and meansto align coins in said rolls comprising plate means mounted on saidconveyor adajcent to the entrance to said shrink oven and means to forceeachof the rolls of coins against said plate means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means to align coins furtherincludes an actuator means upstream of said means to force each-of saidrolls of coins against said plate means to energize said means to aligncoins when the space between each adjacent set of rollers passes saidmeans to align coins.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said means to align coins includes arotary solenoid and a kicker arm, said kicker arm engaging said rolls ofcoins when said solenoid is energized.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said actuator means includes amicro-switch and a contact Wheel rotated by said conveyor to close saidmicro-switch periodically to energize said rotary solenoid.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,920,737 1/1960 Engleson et a1.198-29 3,009,559 11/1961 Suttie 198-29 3,340,882 9/1967 Holmes et al53212X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,412,216 8/1965 France 533O THERON E. CONDON,Primary Examiner E. F. DESMOND, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 53254

